Alpine pasture farming plays a central role in the preservation of the traditional Austrian cultural landscape and, when used sustainably, provides important ecosystem services such as nature conservation, tourism and disaster protection. Despite these functions, alpine pastures are often neglected in discussions on agriculture, land use and land abandonment. While the abandonment of arable land is increasingly considered, the topic of alpine pastures often remains underrepresented, even though alpine areas have a particularly high risk of land abandonment. Between 2000 and 2023, the number of managed alpine pastures in Austria fell by 12% (Green Report, 2024), which highlights the challenges: climate change, the decline in traditional agricultural practices, low economic profitability, demographic changes and complex ownership structures are making the use and preservation of alpine pastures increasingly difficult. Initial findings from interviews with 10 alpine farmers, which were conducted in summer 2024 as part of the COST Action MAR-GISTAR, underpin the need for research and action on land management in alpine farming.
Objective
The research project builds on the existing statistical data on the decline of alpine pastures. In order to place changes in land use and land cover on managed and abandoned alpine pastures in a broad socio-economic and ecological context, a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches (mixed methods) will be used to create a sound basis and develop regionally adapted recommendations for policy and practice.
In work package 1 (WP1), the focus is on the spatial and temporal development of land use and land cover of alpine pastures, based on earth observation and agricultural statistics data. The INVEKOS data serve as a basis for statistically analysing the development of alpine pastures, with a particular focus on identifying abandoned alpine pastures. With the help of remote sensing data and established processing methods, the land use and land cover development before and after the abandonment of alpine pastures is analysed in order to identify patterns that indicate a trend towards the abandonment of these areas. One advantage of remote sensing is the objective and area-wide evaluation, which should lead to representative results for Austria. For this purpose, a workflow is being developed on the BAB Big Data Processing infrastructure. Remote sensing analyses of alpine pasture areas are already being developed or carried out by the AMA, but these focus on determining the areas of alpine pasture that are actually eligible for funding.
Work package 2 (WP2) uses qualitative research methods to analyse the socio-economic factors that influence the changes on alpine pastures. The focus is on the causes, motivations and reactions of alpine farmers in connection with the management or abandonment of alpine pastures in Austria. The interest lies in particular in the regionally different conditions, approaches and development options, which are reflected in complex ownership structures, availability of skilled labour, cooperation with the tourism industry or the importance of protected areas.
Work package 3 (WP3) summarises the results from WP1 and WP2 in order to gain a comprehensive picture of the current and future challenges in alpine pasture management. The aim is to develop regionally harmonised recommendations for policy and practice that sustainably strengthen the alpine pasture economy and prepare it for socio-economic changes. The project results will be summarised and published in a project report.
Status of the project and work in 2026
The work carried out to date includes researching, selecting and incorporating suitable remote sensing methods, evaluating INVEKOS data at the federal state level, conducting literature research on the significance, developments and challenges of alpine farming, and conducting narrative expert interviews with relevant representatives of the federal states.
Planned for 2026 are the launch of the prototype in AP1, the conduct of further national expert interviews, their evaluation using qualitative data analysis (MAXQDA), and the completion of a fact sheet on the status of the project work.
Duration
Project start: 01/2025
Project end: 06/2028
